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After Ji Xue had finished calling her mother, packed her luggage, and made sure she had enough money, she just sat alone on the floor of her room, staring at her cell phone.

The cell phone she was using was a new one she had bought before going to work at Taifeng Building, secretly purchased for her by her grandmother with money she had saved.

Her grandmother was over seventy, living alone in the village, using a smartphone that was even slower than the old one that took two minutes to open an app, which was passed down from her aunt.

But her grandmother took the money she had saved over many years and entrusted someone to pick out a new phone for her, rushing to their house the day before she bought her high-speed rail ticket to leave the county, carrying a small bag in her shaky hands, and without a word, stuffed the bag into her hands.

“Xue, I heard from your mom that you’re going to have a formal job in Beiping this time, not like the odd jobs you took on before. You’ll be able to sign a contract and even get social insurances and housing fund; it’s a good job, a good thing. Grandma doesn’t have much more to give you. At New Year’s, didn’t Pingping say your phone was so slow it was unusable? That’s why Grandma got you a new phone. When you get to Beiping, make sure you get along with your new colleagues, make some friends, and if you have time, maybe even fall in love. Buy yourself a couple of new dresses; don’t wear pants all the time. Girls look prettier in dresses,” she said.

Ji Xue also remembered how, at New Year’s, her grandmother had pulled her aside to slip her 200 yuan, whispering, “Xue, Grandma knows the family has been having a tough couple of years, but even during the New Year, Xiaxia shouldn’t always be wearing the same old clothes. I know you’re sensible, and you should talk to your mom about this too, tell her to put more thought into Xiaxia. I’ve noticed Xiaxia has been very quiet these past two years. Your sisters Huihui and Pingping, they’re always with their phones and don’t talk to anybody, but Xiaxia doesn’t have a phone and still doesn’t talk to anyone. There shouldn’t be a teenage girl who spends her days staring into space in a corner, ignoring everyone. I heard from your aunt that Xiaxia’s grades aren’t very good; it’s okay to have poor grades, but one should at least be cheerful. You’re her older sister, when you have time, you should play with her more. Didn’t Huihui and Pingping always play with you when you were younger?”

Ji Xue remembered that later, as she didn’t know what kind of clothes to buy for Ji Xia and feared she wouldn’t like the styles she chose, gave the 200 yuan to Ji Xia to let her buy her own clothes in town.

Wait, 200 yuan.

Ji Xue suddenly remembered that it was this New Year’s before she left home that she asked Ji Xia which grade she was in.

At that time, Ji Xia had already made up her mind to run away from home.

As she thought about it, Ji Xue harshly slapped herself.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

“Hello, Xue, do you have any recent photos of Xiaxia? I just called your uncle, and he said we need to provide two recent photos to file a report, but I’ve turned the house upside down and can’t find a single photo of your sister,” Ji Xue’s mother said, her voice tinged with tears.

Ji Xue’s throat felt bitter, and she could hardly say a word, “Mom, don’t panic; I’ll be back tomorrow. It’s too late now; I’ll call Xiaxia’s homeroom teacher in the morning to see if he has any photos of her.”

“Xue, Xiaxia has been gone for over two months. What if we can’t find her?”

“How old is she? She hasn’t even finished middle school yet. Who did she learn this from, to just run away from home like this? She…” Ji Xue’s mother was already sobbing uncontrollably on the phone.

“Mom, Xiaxia has already graduated,” Ji Xue said.

Ji Xue’s mother was stunned.

“Do you even remember the last time we celebrated Xiaxia’s birthday? Do you know her favorite food? Do you know who her friends are? We don’t even have a photo of Xiaxia. I don’t even know which school she attended,” Ji Xue suddenly became agitated. She was angry at Ji Xia for running away from home and blamed her parents for neglecting Ji Xia over the years, and hated herself for trying to pass the blame onto others at such a critical time.

“Mom, this is all our fault; we can’t blame her for everything.” Ji Xue hung up the phone and slapped herself again and again.

She sat there on the floor in a daze until dawn.

On the other end of the phone, Ji Xue’s mother stood still holding her phone, then suddenly burst into loud sobs.

The next morning, Ji Xue and Ji Yue both appeared in the living room with huge dark circles under their eyes for their meeting.

While Ji Xue had spent the night in self-reproach and agony, Ji Yue had a completely vibrant night.

Ji Yue first called Jiang Feng to inform him of the situation and then, after making sure Mrs. Wang Xiulian hadn’t fallen asleep, called her.

Ji Xue taking a leave of absence was a big deal for Taifeng Building, as her clay pot chicken with flowers always had reservations fully booked, with customers often venting their frustrations on the receptionist when they missed the chance due to not booking in time.

Now with Ji Xue on leave, all reservations for the clay pot chicken for a whole week had to be canceled.

The night before, Ji Yue had first discussed with Mrs. Wang Xiulian the issue of compensation for the cancellations, then called Fan Mei to confirm the reservation list, and spent the night sending out text messages.

There were always those few customers living abroad who, because of the time difference, were the first to read the message and would call to shout abuse.

And then there were always those few customers who stayed up late, who received the text message first thing and called to shout abuse.

There were still always those few customers who, even though they slept at night, had friends who did not and happened to receive the message, prompting them to inquire and subsequently call to shout abuse.

Ji Yue had been scolded all night long.

Scolded until her phone battery was almost dead, she had to charge it while continuing to be scolded.

After a night of abuse, having heard curses in all dialects, a listless Ji Yue waved weakly at Ji Xue to greet her.

“Morning, Xue, what time is your train?” Ji Yue asked.

“8:45 A.M.,” Ji Xue replied, now much more composed after reflecting all night. She knew that at this point, blaming others or herself was useless. She felt much more settled now.

Ji Yue glanced at her phone; it was only 6:17 A.M. Soon, she thought, the guests would start waking up to check their phones, and then she expected a barrage of calls raining down on her with more verbal berating.

Who should I hand over my phone to for answering calls this morning?

“That’s not urgent, just head downstairs at 6:30 to buy some buns, get a few extra or pick up two cups of instant noodles at the convenience store to eat on the train,” Ji Yue advised, and the next second the phone rang.

“Hello, yes, this is…”

“What’s the deal with your restaurant? Making a reservation is a huge hassle, and a premium VIP is treated no better than a piece of furniture. It took us so long to book today’s lunch reservation, and now you’re telling me the chef suddenly has issues and can’t cook? Is this how you treat your guests? Do you even care about your customers at all? I could sue you for this; do you understand?” A shrill female voice came through the phone.

“I’m so sorry, dear guest, our chef indeed had an emergency at home, and no other chef can…”

“What do you mean ‘your chef had an emergency at home’? Doesn’t everyone have problems? Only your chef has issues while we don’t, huh? If there’s an emergency, you can just skip work and play games with your customers? Don’t you know that the customer is god? Without us, you’d just be waiting to go broke and get blown away in the northwest wind. Give me your manager, I want to speak with your leader!”

Ji Yue: ???

“Dear guest, there has indeed been a mistake on our part, so we will certainly compensate you, for instance by offering a 20% discount on the meal or by presenting you with two servings of Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon…”

“Don’t try to fool us with those discounts or freebies. You set the prices, charging over 2000 yuan for a lousy chicken, and now you offer us what? Some Eight Treasures whatever Pigeon as if we’re fools. Let me tell you, my husband booked that whatever lousy chicken to entertain clients, and if his deal falls through because of this, you haven’t heard the last from me. I can’t get through to you ghostly waiters; whatever I say, you probably can’t understand. Give the phone to your manager; I want to speak to them!”

Ji Yue: ???

“So, you’re opting not to accept the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon and would prefer a 20% discount instead?” Ji Yue said.

“I don’t want your lousy pigeon. Who are you fooling with just a 20% discount? I’m telling you, you better give me at least a 40% discount, or I’ll turn against you. Just try me; I’ll report you!”

“Alright, I’ve taken note of your feedback. It’s still not business hours, but once they begin, I’ll inform our leader. So, do you intend to keep or cancel your reserved private room for today’s noon?” Ji Yue continued.

“Are you deaf or just plain stupid? Didn’t I say my husband is hosting clients for lunch today? I’m telling you, you need to give me at least a 40% discount on the meal cost, or else I…”

“May I know which private room you’ve reserved? Please provide your surname and the last four digits of your phone number.”

“Private room 207, surname Yang, 7061. I’m telling you, what’s with your attitude? I can have you fired if I make a report, you realize that?”

“Okay, I’ve got your request. I have other customers to attend to. If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now, have a nice day.” Ji Yue decisively hung up the phone, tossed it onto the sofa, picked up a notebook from the coffee table, wrote “20% off” after “Yang, private room 207,” and then drew a big cross over it.

“Yue, I’m really sorry, it’s all my…” Ji Yue’s hot-tempered female interlocutor had raised her voice, so Ji Xue heard most of it.

“No worries, it could have been worse. At least she refrained from using foul language,” Ji Yue said. “Everyone understands family emergencies. These kinds of customers are just a minority. In a large forest, there are all kinds of birds. We’ve got a population of 1.4 billion; it’s impossible not to meet all sorts of people.”

“You better check if you’ve forgotten anything. Then hurry downstairs to buy buns. Today’s a workday, and you’re carrying a big suitcase. If you run into the morning rush hour and can’t squeeze into the metro, you’ll be done for. Go on, off you go. Ah, here comes another call for me; just head down.”

“Hello, yes, this is…”

“Yes, yes, I’m very sorry. It’s mainly because our chef had a personal emergency. If you could be understanding, that would be wonderful.”

“What? You want two more servings of Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon? That request is quite difficult for us, as you know. It’s a complex dish to make, and there’s only one chef in our restaurant who can do it.”

“You can be assured about the taste. It’s absolutely authentic. Our chef learned how to make the Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon directly from Master Sun Guanyun. Yes, rest assured, there will be no problem. Do you know Sun Jikai? That’s Master Sun Guanyun’s eldest grandson. He used to work in our restaurant, so the taste at our place…”

“Alright, alright, VIP private room 6, Mr. Cheng, is it? Okay, I’ll convey your feedback to our boss, have a nice day.” After hanging up, Ji Yue noticed that Ji Xue was still standing at the entrance without leaving.

“What are you spacing out for, Xue? Get going. If you miss the train, crying will be the least of your worries,” urged Ji Yue.

“Give my thanks to Jiang Feng and Mrs. Wang, and to Sister Fan,” Ji Xue said.

“Don’t worry, I will. If there’s anything back home that you’re unsure about, call us anytime. And if you’re short on cash… I’ll ask Jiang Feng and Old Zhang to lend it to them,” Ji Yue chuckled.

“Thank you.” Ji Xue opened the door and left, dragging her suitcase.

Ji Yue was just about to head to the restroom to wash her face and put on a face mask when the phone rang again.

“Hello, Mr. Cheng, is there anything else I can assist you with?”

“What happened with our chef’s family? Such matters are quite private, so we generally do not…”

“Your family is from Guangdong Province, right? Your son works in the police force, and your daughter is a hospital employee, correct? That’s great. If you’re willing to lend a hand…”

“Six servings of Eight Treasures Chestnut Fragrant Pigeon is negotiable. I can speak to our boss right now. Alright, you want to add this mobile number on WeChat, correct? Understood, let’s discuss the details over WeChat?”

“Okay, okay, thank you so much. Have a nice day.”

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PS: I need monthly tickets! (Loud and clear!)